Frank Zybach

(1894-1980) lived at Columbus. Farmer, known for inventing in 1948 the center pivot irrigation system and patenting it in 1952, he contributed to dependable food supplies worldwide by means of efficient use of soil and water; improved upon by agricultural engineers, the center pivot is the first system to irrigate a variety of crops, soils, sloping land, and field sizes in an automatic, efficient, and uniform manner; by the turn of the 21st century, one fourth of United States farmland was watered by center pivot systems and the equipment is used worldwide. Consult Scientific American, June 1976, pp. 90-99 and obituary in Columbus /NE/ Telegram, August 20, 1980, p. 1 and Irrigation Age, January 1981, pp. 22-23, 36 and Lincoln Journal Star, July 15, 1999, p. X-6 and Beatrice Daily Sun, April 13, 2002, p. A-16.

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